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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 120 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  3. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  4. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  5. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  14. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  15. It's one o'clock ________________.
  16. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  19. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  24. The King held a masked ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. ball — a great time
  3. sharp — with an edge
  4. current — electric
  5. pitch — a sports field
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. mine — for digging
  8. ball — a round shape
  9. capital — money
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. current — happening now
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. pitch — completely
  14. present — there
  15. sharp — exactly
  16. pitch — a sales talk
  17. hand — in cards
  18. current — of water
  19. sharp — clever
  20. hand — help
  21. present — the time now
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. present — a gift
  24. ball — a dance

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com